What Do Brooklyn Apartment Hunters Want?

David J. Maundrell III, founder and president of Aptsandlofts.com, isn’t sure what home hunters want, but he knows what they don’t want, he says:

People don’t want apartments with very little closet space. They don’t want strip kitchens. They don’t want these small, cramped rooms. People also don’t want one person’s vision. We try to help design a product that we can cast a wide net and bring in many people. Sometimes certain designs alienate. It may only be for one type of buyer or renter.

The company, which started in Williamsburg, has become known for its influence in shaping the look of conversions and new buildings there and throughout Brooklyn. It was one of the first to work with developers early on in the process and help steer them away from the Home Depot look, which their customers didn’t like, as we know from conversations with the firm’s brokers over many years. In a New York Times question-and-answer interview, Maundrell said the market is swinging back to condos, with some projects that were formerly built as condos then switched to rentals now switching back again. Maundrell details some buildings they will soon be leasing out, including 50 North 5th in Williamsburg, pictured above, and other buildings in Park Slope and Flatbush. The first two will rent for $60 a square foot or more; at a 62-unit building in Flatbush close to Brooklyn College, two-bedrooms will go for $1,900 a month. “We’re going to push close to 800 apartments to the market over five projects or so in the next 45 to 60 days,” he said. They plan to open a third Brooklyn office soon in an undisclosed location (current offices are in Cobble Hill and Williamsburg).